Background Music

Music has increasingly become a part of the modern-day workplace. Music has a strange temporal permanence; as art decorates space, so does music decorate time.

With so much of our time being spent at work, and so much of our work being done at computers, music has become inseparable from our day-to-day tasks—a way to “optimize the boring” while looking at screens.
More modern studies would argue that it isn’t the music itself, but rather the improved mood your favorite music brings that is the source of this bump in productivity.

Music with a dissonant tone was found to have no impact to productivity, while music in the major mode, or key, had better results: “Subjects hearing BGM (background music) achieved greater productivity when BGM was in the major mode.”

For those who do enjoy listening to music during creative sessions, an atmospheric presence seems to work best.

Researchers have shown that a moderate noise level can get creative juices flowing, but the line is easily crossed; loud noises made it incredibly difficult to concentrate. Bellowing basses and screeching synths will do you more harm than good when engaging in deep work.